Visual Separation Approach (VSA) is a procedure where the flight crew of an aircraft is required to follow a preceding aircraft visually and maintain a safe separation during approach as directed by the Air Traffic Controller. In one example, during the Visual Acquisition Phase, flight crew generally has to detect the preceding aircraft on a traffic display and out of the window of the aircraft, as commanded by the Air Traffic Controller.
In the vicinity of a busy airport, however, the traffic display can be cluttered with many traffic symbols, which may make detecting the preceding aircraft on the traffic display time consuming and difficult. In addition, the pilot may reduce a selected display range near the airport so that the pilot can view the airport map clearly. This may cause some of the traffic in the area to go out of the traffic display area on the traffic display, which can further complicate the detection of the preceding aircraft.
Accordingly, there is a need for traffic prioritization, which can improve the detection of a preceding aircraft during VSA.